Jane Dormer
Encyclopedia
Lady-in-waiting
A lady-in-waiting is a female personal assistant at a royal court, attending on a queen, a princess, or a high-ranking noblewoman. Historically, in Europe a lady-in-waiting was often a noblewoman from a family highly thought of in good society, but was of lower rank than the woman on whom she...
to Mary I
Mary I of England
Mary I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from July 1553 until her death.She was the only surviving child born of the ill-fated marriage of Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon. Her younger half-brother, Edward VI, succeeded Henry in 1547...
who went on to serve as the Duchess of Feria
Feria
A feria was a day on which the people, especially the slaves, were not obliged to work, and on which there were no court sessions...
.
Biography
Jane Dormer was born during the reign of Henry VIIIHenry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
, when her family was split by the religious controversy caused by the on-going King's break with Rome
English Reformation
The English Reformation was the series of events in 16th-century England by which the Church of England broke away from the authority of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church....
. On the one side, her father Sir William Dormer's family (moderately prosperous Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
landowners and wool merchants) remained staunchly Catholic. However, her mother Mary Sidney's family embraced the new religion of Protestantism. Jane was raised broadly outside this latter influence from the death of her mother in 1542, but she spent her youth not only in the household of her paternal grandmother but also as a playmate of the young Edward VI
Edward VI of England
Edward VI was the King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death. He was crowned on 20 February at the age of nine. The son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour, Edward was the third monarch of the Tudor dynasty and England's first monarch who was raised as a Protestant...
, who was very fond of the young Jane and is reported to have said after having beaten her at cards, "Now your king is gone Jane, I shall be good enough for you." (By extension, Jane would have been acquainted with Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
when she lodged with her half brother).
Jane's faith and royal connections would take her to the heart of power. Despite an age gap of over twenty years and at the age of just sixteen, Jane became one of Queen Mary
Mary I of England
Mary I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from July 1553 until her death.She was the only surviving child born of the ill-fated marriage of Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon. Her younger half-brother, Edward VI, succeeded Henry in 1547...
's closest friends and confidantes.
Despite interest from several English grandees she made her own Spanish match by marrying Don Gomez Suarez de Figueroa of Cordova, Duke of Feria
Don Gomez Suarez de Figueroa of Cordova, Duke of Feria
Gómez Suárez de Figueroa y Córdoba, 1st Duke of Feria was a Spanish nobleman and diplomat, and close advisor of Philip II.Probably born in Zafra, Extremadura, he was the second son of Lorenzo Suárez de Figueroa, third count of Feria, and his wife, Catalina Fernandez de Córdoba...
, a close confidante of Philip II
Philip II of Spain
Philip II was King of Spain, Portugal, Naples, Sicily, and, while married to Mary I, King of England and Ireland. He was lord of the Seventeen Provinces from 1556 until 1581, holding various titles for the individual territories such as duke or count....
and his first ambassador to Elizabeth I's court. Jane and Don Gomez had first met on Philip's arrival in England in 1554; Mary had strongly encouraged the match, but it had been postponed to await Philip's return to the country after campaigns abroad. This never occurred, and the two were not married until after Mary's death in 1558. The union produced two sons: Lorenzo (born in 1559), who succeeded his father as Duke of Feria, and Pedro (born in 1565; lived only three months).
Feria was quick to perceive how Elizabeth's accession would change the religious tide in England and, despite his formal role as Spanish ambassador, refused to attend Elizabeth's coronation in a public rejection of expected Protestant elements in the service. When he was replaced in 1559, he and Jane returned to the continent with a mixed retinue of monks and nuns and another of Mary's former ladies-in-waiting, Susan Clarencieux
Susan Clarencieux
Susan Clarencieux was a favourite lady in waiting and longtime friend to Mary I of England, daughter of King Henry VIII.She was born Susan White, the daughter of Richard White of Hutton, Essex and Lady Margaret Strelley...
; there she became a lightning rod for exiled English Catholics. On her husband's death in 1571 she took over the management of his estates.
Jane's interest in the cause of Catholicism in England did not cause her to cease correspondence with Elizabeth, but she also received letters from four Popes and maintained numerous other contacts. Within Spain she was a champion of exiled English fallen on hard times, and in 1592 was a strong candidate to take up the governorship of Flanders.
Her health never recovered from an accident in 1609, and she was bedridden from the start of 1611 - planning ahead she had already prepared a coffin which she kept in the house. At her death, on 13 January 1612, she was attended by seven priests.
In fiction
Jane Dormer is a prominent character in Philippa GregoryPhilippa Gregory
Philippa Gregory is an English novelist.-Early life and academic career:Philippa Gregory was born in Kenya. When she was two years old, her family moved to England. She was a "rebel" at school, but managed to attend the University of Sussex...
's historical fiction The Queen's Fool
The Queen's Fool
The Queen's Fool by Philippa Gregory is a 2004 historical fiction novel. Set between 1548 and 1558, it is part of Philippa Gregory's Tudor series. The series includes The Boleyn Inheritance...
, which emphasizes her role as a close personal friend and a completely devoted and loyal follower of Queen Mary
Mary I of England
Mary I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from July 1553 until her death.She was the only surviving child born of the ill-fated marriage of Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon. Her younger half-brother, Edward VI, succeeded Henry in 1547...
, both before Mary's accession to the throne and throughout the ups and downs of her reign. The book depicts Jane Dormer as having a dour character, vindictive towards the Queen's enemies even when Mary herself was inclined to show them clemency. Jane also appears briefly in Gregory's sequel The Virgin's Lover
The Virgin's Lover
The Virgin's Lover is a historical novel written by British author Philippa Gregory. It belongs to her series of Tudor novels, including The Constant Princess, The Other Boleyn Girl, The Boleyn Inheritance, and The Queen's Fool....
. She appears as a supporting character in the fifth installment of Dorothy Dunnett
Dorothy Dunnett
Dorothy Dunnett OBE was a Scottish historical novelist. She is best known for her six-part series about Francis Crawford of Lymond, The Lymond Chronicles, which she followed with the eight-part prequel The House of Niccolò...
's Lymond Chronicles
Lymond Chronicles
The Lymond Chronicles is a series of six novels, written by Dorothy Dunnett, which were first published between 1961 and 1975. The series is set in mid-sixteenth century Europe and the Mediterranean and tells the story of a young Scottish nobleman, Francis Crawford of Lymond, from 1547 through...
, The Ringed Castle.
The Duchess is related to the British actress Natalie Dormer
Natalie Dormer
Natalie Dormer is an English actress. She is best known for her roles as Victoria in Casanova and as the ill-fated queen Anne Boleyn in the Showtime series The Tudors.-Early life and current lifestyle:...
, who portrayed Anne Boleyn
Anne Boleyn
Anne Boleyn ;c.1501/1507 – 19 May 1536) was Queen of England from 1533 to 1536 as the second wife of Henry VIII of England and Marquess of Pembroke in her own right. Henry's marriage to Anne, and her subsequent execution, made her a key figure in the political and religious upheaval that was the...
in the series The Tudors
The Tudors
The Tudors is a Canadian produced historical fiction television series filmed in Ireland, created by Michael Hirst and produced for the American premium cable television channel Showtime...
.